Surprise! Killer7 is now on Steam

The story of a man who is seven men, all of them killers, appeared today without warning.

NIS America teased the upcoming release of Killer7 in September with a trailer showcasing the game's cel shaded graphics and first three assassins: The Cleaner, the Hellion, and Four-Eyes. What it did not have, unfortunately, was any hint of a release date or pricing. Today the publisher revealed both, by releasing the game on Steam entirely without warning.

Originally released in 2005 for the PS2 and GameCube, Killer7 is a "cult classic adventure game" about a man named Harman Smith who suffers from a form of dissociative identity disorder, a situation further complicated by the fact that each of his distinct personalities is a deadly assassin. He somehow finds himself up against Heaven Smile, an organization of suicide bombers led by the despotic Kun Lan; fortunately for Harman, he can switch between his murderous identities at will, so no matter what situation comes up he's ready to handle it, as long as it involves killing someone I guess.

"Killer7 chronicles the connection between two men whose intertwined path develop into a compelling tale of revenge and altering personas, propelling players into the consciousness of one man, Harman Smith and his seven different personalities," the Steam description says.

It's been "optimized for PC," although in what ways aren't made clear: Fortunately the Killer7 "notes and updates" page at nisamerica.com digs into it a little deeper. All animations have been modified to fit the 16:9 aspect ratio, everything is rendered at 60 fps except the reload animation (speeding it up introduced artifacts, and since it doesn't impact gameplay the developers elected to leave it at 30 fps), controls can be rebound and have been modified to better fit keyboard/mouse setups, "many" textures on 2D items in the game have been upgraded to 1080p, and "all of Travis's shirts are crystal clear in the Steam version!" I have absolutely no idea what that means.

As for pricing, it's currently available at a 10 percent launch discount, taking it to $18/£14/€18 until November 22.

Andy covers the day-to-day happenings in the big, wide world of PC gaming—the stuff we call "news." In his off hours, he wishes he had time to play the 80-hour RPGs and immersive sims he used to love so much.